Safety apparatus for aeroplanes



May 24, 1932. H. A. THORNTON v SAFETY APPARATUS FOR AEROPLANES Filed April 6, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet l May 24, 1932. H. A. THORNTON 1,8 SAFETY APPARATUS FOR AEROPLANEb Filed April 6, 1951 5, Sheets-Sheet 2 May 24, 1932. H. A THORNTON SAFETY APPARATUS FOR AEROPLANES 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed April 6, 1951 tail first, the action of this Patented May 24, 1932 HIR AM A. THORNTON, 0F VINCENNES, INDIANA SAFETY APPARATUS FOR AEROPLANES Application filed April 6,

This invention relates to safety apparatus for use on an aeroplane for the purpose of bringing it out of an uncontrolled nose-dive or tail-spin. j

5 A further object is to provide an aeroplane with a supplemental safety plane capable of swinging away from the fuselage either at the front or the back thereof, depending on whether the machine is falling nose first or plane being such as to deflect the advancing part of the machine upwardly so as to bring the. fuselage to a point where the controls commonly used can be brought into effective action. I

lVith the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement ofparts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed, may be made within the scope ofjwhat is claimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanyingdrawings,the preferred form'of the invention has been shown. In said drawings: 7 a Figure 1 is a planview of a portion of an aeroplane equipped with the safety apparatus constituting the present invention.

Figure 2 is a side elevation thereof, parts being broken away and the safety planebeing shown by dotted lines in two different positions which can be assumed thereby. 1

Figure 3 is an enlarged section-through a portion of the aeroplane taken on the line 353, Figure 2. j 1

Figure is a section on line 4+4, Figure 3. 1 Figure 5 is a section through a, latch used for holding the safety plane in normalposition, thisseetion being on an enlarged scale and taken on line 55, Figure 1..

' Figurefi is an enlarged horizontal section through the connection between the tail planes and'fuselagep Figure 7 is an enlarged vertical section therethrough. l N

Figure 8 is a section on line 8 -8, Figure 6. Figure 9 is a detailed view showing a modi- 1931. Serial No. 528,188.

aeroplane which can be of any desired con struction. Secured to the rear end offthe fuselage is a plate 2 carrying a concave or socket member 3 to whichis secured a concavo-convex cap 4. At diametrically opposed points in the same horizontal plane are arcuate slots 5 formed in the socket memher 3 and cap tand these slots constitute guides for trnnnions 6 extending in opposite directions from a ball snugly in the socket member and cap and projects through an opening 8 in the plate 2.

A stem 9 is formed on theproj'ecting portion of the ball and is connected by a yoke 10 or the like to the crossed tail planes or rudders 11. I

Arms l2 are secured to and radiate from stem 9. Each of these arms has a terminal stud 13 projecting toward plate 2. Formed in the plate are openings 14 so located that when the tail planes are swung upwardly or downwardlyeither the upper stud 13 or the lower stud 13 will enter one of the openings 14, and when the tail planes are swung to the right or to the left one or the other of the side studs 13 will enter the adjacent side opening 14. Thus when the tail planes are shifted angularly beyond a predetermined distance they will be locked against rotation and reinforced against torsional strain. The tail planes can be operated by any suitable means provided for that purpose such as cables 15 extending from theIside arms 12 to a foot lever 16 and from the upper and lower arms to a hand lever 17.

Mounted on a sustainingplane 18-of the aeroplane is a supplemental or safety plane 19 which, in practice, is of a Width equal to approximately one-third of the distance 'fromtip to tip. This safety plane is centered over the fuselage and is provided ad- 1 jacent to its center with depending brackets 20 which extend downwardly at the sides of the fuselage l bet-ween opposed V-shaped guides 21. These guides are preferably angular in cross section as shown "particularly in 100 The ball is fitted Figures 4 so as to lap the base flanges 22 of brackets which are T-shaped as shown. The brackets can be reinforced by means of brace or tie rods 23 having turnbuckles 24. By providing the V-shape guides 21 the brackets can be held against lateral shifting to an objectionable extent relative to the fuselage but will, at the same time, be capable of swinging upwardly about either the front or back end of the safety plane as a center.

Depending from each end of the safety plane is a lug 25 normally seated between stationary cars 26 carried by the fuselage. This lug is adapted to receive a latch "bolt .27 slidable in the ears 26 and having any suitable means connected thereto whereby it can .be quickly disengaged from lug 25. For example, each bolt can have a cord 28 extendingtherefrom over suitable guide pulleys 29 and a'handle 30 located where it can be conveniently reached by the pilot. Normally 'both bolts are seated in the lug 25 so that the safety plane cannot be moved relative to the fuselage.

Assuming that the aeroplane is out of control and making a dive with its nose first, the pilot pulls upon the cord connected to the front bolt. 'Thus the front end of the safety plane willbe released and will be swung outwardly'by pressure of air thereagainst substantially to the position indicated by broken lines at 31. Thetail planes can be thrown upwardly by the operator so as to cause one of the studs 13 to enter its opening 14. Thus twisting or turning of the tail planes is prevented and at .lthesame time the j-sh'i'fted safety plane will be brought into action and tend to swing the fuselage into position where the usual controls can be made e'lfective.

Should the aeroplane be descending tail first, the other bolt would be withdrawn and the safety plane would swing substantially to the position shown by broken lines at 32. In this event the tail planes would also be shifted and "locked.

For the purpose of starting the safety plane to active position after it has been released, a lever 33 can "be pivotally mounted in the fuselage and connected at one end to the safety plane by a push rod 34. The other end of the lever can be connected to a foot lever '35 by a cable 36. By pushing on the foot lever the push rod will thrust against the released safety plane and insure its movement away from the fuselage,

Instead of releasing and operating the safety plane as described it might be desired to tiltably mount the plane as shown in Figure 9. In said figure, safety plane 37 is .secured to a rotatableshaft 38 and a. lever 39 extends downwardlyfrom and is secured to this shaft. Slotted arcuate strips 40 are secured to and extend downwardly from the .canbe-locked by releasing pawl 42.

Although the plane 19 has been described as overlyingJthessustaining plane 18, it is to be understood that the sustaining plane can be removed from beneath the safety plane.

hat is claimed is: 1. The combination with an aeroplane structure, of a safety plane centered upon and supported by the fuselage, pivotal connections between the front and back edges of said plane and the fuselage cooperating to 1101a "the plane against movement, cooperating means on the safety plane and the fuslage for guiding saidplane when tiltedabout either its front or its back pivotal connection, means for disengaging the safety plane at either of its pivotal connections, and means for shifting the safety plane when disengaged to swing it about its other pivotal connection.

v2. The combination. of an aeroplane structure, of a safety plane centered thereon, pivotal connections between the fuselage o'fthe aeroplane structure and the .front and back edges respectively of the safety plane, means for releasingeither of saidconnections to permit tilting movement of the plane about its other connection, and means for holding the safety plane against lateral or longitudinal displacement relative to the fuselage whilesaid plane is in any of its positions.

3. The combination with an aeroplane structure, of a safety plane centered thereon, pivotal connections between the fuselage of theaerop'lane structure-and the front and .back edges respectively of the safety plane,

means for releasing either of said connections to permit tilting movement of the plane about its other connection, and means for holding the safety plane against lateral or longitudinal displacement relative to the fuselage while said plane is in any of 1ts positions, said means including opposed spaced diverging guides,'and brackets depending from the plane and tiltably and slidably mounted between the guides.

4. The combination with an aeroplane structure, of a safety plane centered upon and supported by .the fuselage, pivotal connections between the front and back edges of said plane and the fuselage cooperating to hold the plane against movement, means for guiding said plane when tilted about its front or its back pivotal connection, means for disengaging the safety plane at either of its pivotal connections, a tail plane pivotally connected to the fuselage and means for simultaneously shifting the tail plane and the safety plane to move them about their respective pivotal connections to bring the aeroplane out of a dive.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto afiixed my signature.

HIRAM A. THORNTON. 

